A massive row erupted over Chhattisgarh Police’s attempt to arrest Zee TV news anchor Rohit Ranjan on Tuesday after Noida Police foiled their bid and took Ranjan in their own custody.
Ranjan was booked by the Chhattisgarh Police for playing a doctored clip of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on the channel during his show on July 1. Drama unfolded outside Ranjan’s home in Ghaziabad on Tuesday with the police forces of the two States face to face with each other.
According to Noida Police, the Zee News anchor was picked up from his home for questioning on Tuesday morning by a team of Noida Sector 20 police station in connection with an FIR lodged under IPC 505 (public mischief) on a complaint by his own channel over a doctored video played during his show on July 1.
In Raipur, Senior Superintendent of Police Prashant Agrawal said a case was registered against Ranjan and others of Zee News on Sunday for allegedly promoting enmity between different groups and outraging religious feelings of people based on the complaint of Congress MLA Devendra Yadav.
Yadav said in his complaint that a video in which Rahul described those attacking his Wayanad office as children against whom he had no ill, was “mischievously” used by the TV channel on July 1 to suggest he was forgiving the killers of Udaipur tailor Kanhaiya Lal.
After Chhattisgarh cops reached out to arrest him, Ranjan reached out to the UP Government and police for help. “Chhattisgarh Police is standing outside my house to arrest me without informing the local police, is it legal?” The Zee News anchor asked and tagged Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the State’s police in the post.
“There is no such rule to inform. Still, now they are informed. The police team has shown you the court’s warrant of arrest. You should cooperate, join in the investigation and put your defence in court,” Raipur Police said in response.
Chhattisgarh cops were not able to arrest him but said it had shown him the arrest warrant and sought his cooperation in the probe. The FIR against Ranjan has been filed in Raipur. On July 2, a day after the video was aired, Ranjan apologised during his TV show for “mistakenly” playing Rahul’s statement out of context by linking it with the Udaipur murder case. “It was a human error for which our team is apologetic. We apologise for it,” he had tweeted in Hindi.
The controversial video was used by several people including BJP leaders to attack Rahul and the Congress party in the wake of the gruesome killing in Udaipur on June 28.